


forever right now

by ailurea



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Canon Universe, Fluff, Getting Together, Keith stealing vehicles, M/M, happy birthday shiro, s8 what s8
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-03
Updated: 2021-03-03
Packaged: 2021-03-16 10:02:48
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,501
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29823279
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ailurea/pseuds/ailurea
Summary: Shiro is hoping for the last few quintants of his trip to go smoothly so that he can return home to Earth, to his family... to Keith.Instead,someonesteals his ship.
Relationships: Keith/Shiro (Voltron)
Comments: 39
Kudos: 101





	forever right now

**Author's Note:**

> HAPPY BIRTHDAY, SHIRO (and sorry this is a bit late)! ♥ I was so excited to collab with [infie](https://twitter.com/existence_proof) on this, it was so much fun working together!! Check out her art in the fic and [on twitter](https://twitter.com/existence_proof/status/1367156586364301312?s=19)!

Shiro hears Allura’s boots clack against the white-metal floor of the Castleship before he hears her voice.

“I should have guessed you would be hiding here.”

Shiro turns away from the window to look at her over his shoulder. She’s standing in the doorway, hand propped on her hip and wearing the pink and blue flight suit that’s become standard for her these days in her role as part-diplomat, part-space explorer. “Who says I’m hiding?”

Allura steps deeper into the observatory and folds her hands behind her back. “If I recall correctly,” she says, platinum bob swaying as she tilts her head in mock thought, “you and your team are currently meant to be meeting with our scientists about their findings regarding the Atlas..”

“And if I recall correctly,” Shiro says, crossing his arms and grinning, “my participation in that session was optional. You think I don’t trust my engineering team?”

Allura arches her brow in targeted _I’ve-got-you_ precision. “What I think,” she says, “is that you’re hiding from Slav.”

Shiro turns away, back to the window, but his grin doesn’t waver. “Balderdash.”

Allura hums, amused, and comes to stand beside him. “He’s been invaluable in helping us with all of this, you know,” she says, nodding to the Balmera below them.

“It’s possible to be both helpful and the most annoying person in the universe,” Shiro says, though he does admire what they’ve accomplished.

It’s still a work in progress—building the new Castleship was the first priority, which Shiro knows that Allura had also done with Slav’s help. In the process of retrieving crystals, they’d stumbled upon this Balmera, drained and left abandoned by the Galra Empire, and Allura resolved to return and restore it as soon as the Castleship was completed.

In fact, Allura resolved to find and restore every last one—and Slav has agreed to help.

“He is rather… particular,” Allura says, and the adjective sounds very carefully chosen. “But once you get past that, he really isn’t so bad.”

“I ran into him yesterday and he said I needed to cut two centimeters off my bangs or I’d never reunite with my true love,” Shiro says.

Allura eyes the top of his head critically. “It is getting rather long…”

“Allura.”

“Well, I supposed we can wait and see what your true love thinks.”

“Allura!”

Allura laughs, not unkindly. “You really should tell him soon, you know. You’ve been waiting a long time for your happily ever after.”

“Unfortunately, life’s not a fairy tale,” Shiro says. “I’m not sure happily ever afters really exist in reality.”

“Maybe not,” Allura says, something wistful in her voice, “but there isn’t anything wrong with hoping for one, is there?”

Shiro relaxes his arms. “No. There isn’t.”

Allura squeezes his arm in comfort, and they spend a long moment just looking out into space.

Then, eventually, Allura says, “I’m sure you’re looking forward to seeing the stars from Earth once more.”

“As much as I’ve enjoyed getting to spend time with you,” Shiro says with a light smile, “it has been a long time since I’ve gotten the chance to spend time back on Earth.”

“It must have been difficult to have to depart so soon after the battle,” Allura says. “Though I am grateful to have had you here with us.”

“It’s important to keep the momentum going,” Shiro says. “I understand that. And I definitely don’t regret being able to be here for you. But sometimes it does feel like I haven’t had the chance to sit still since this all started, you know? I don’t even know how long it’s been since I’ve seen my family.”

“You’ll have the chance when you get back, though?” 

“I have guaranteed leave,” Shiro says. “Had it written and signed before I left. I’ll get to go home.”

Allura smiles. “I’m happy for you, Shiro. I’m sure your family will be delighted to have the time with you. And I’m sure Keith will be excited to see you again, as well.”

“Yeah,” Shiro says, warmed by the thought, though he tries to keep it in check. “If he’s there.”

They’d been traveling together, in the beginning. Then Keith had taken off with Krolia and a handful of Blades to establish their new base of operations. He’d promised to be back to Earth before Shiro’s tour was due to complete, but, well—Shiro would be the first to say that you can’t guarantee how things will turn out.

“Shiro, please,” Allura says. “If there’s one thing that I know about Keith, it’s that he would bend the laws of the universe to keep a promise to you. Have faith.”

Shiro blows out a breath and smiles. “You’re right.”

Allura smiles back. “You’re still on schedule for your return?”

“Yeah, just a few more quintants here and then we’re done,” Shiro says. And it’s a good thing, too—he’s really not sure he has the energy to stop off at another planet for diplomatic tours after this. “Straight back to Earth. Assuming nothing else goes wrong.”

“Shiro,” Allura says, some resignation in her amusement this time. “When have we ever been lucky enough to say that without regretting it soon after?”

“There’s a first time for everything, right?”

The room flashes red as the security alarms blare to life.

Allura’s raised eyebrow screams _I told you so._

“I maintain that there will be a first time, eventually,” Shiro says as his communicator lights up. He taps to accept as he and Allura jog out of the observatory and toward the Castleship’s command deck. “This is Shiro; what’s going on?”

“Captain!” Veronica’s voice over the line is panicked. “Someone’s broken into your ship.”

“Into the Atlas?” Shiro says, throwing a confused look at Allura. The Atlas is docked in the main hangar bay. The Castleship alarms should have gone off first.

“They broke into the Atlas hangar,” Veronica says, “but also into _your ship_. It’s the Atlantide, sir. She’s gone.”

A quick glance at Allura shows she’s thinking the same thing he is—that shouldn’t be possible.

Something’s not right.

He tightens his grip on his communicator. “We’ll be right there.”

* * *

“So the Atlantide is definitely gone,” Veronica says once they arrive. She has the security feed for the hangar up on the main screen, the camera pointed at the empty space where the Atlantide was once docked.

“How would they even get into the Castle in the first place?” Allura says. “Alarms should have been raised for unauthorized entry long before then.”

“All of the security groups have checked in,” Coran says, stroking his chin as he reviews the information on his own monitor. “No one’s reported any suspicious activity otherwise.”

“They must still be in range,” Shiro says. “The Atlantide isn’t exactly the fastest ship.”

“I’ll check that now,” Sam says, sitting down at a terminal. He must have just made it from the engineering deck. Slav, thankfully, is nowhere in sight—Shiro doesn’t think he can handle him right now.

“Thanks, Sam.” Shiro runs a hand through his hair. He has to wonder who would go to this much trouble in the first place. If they could get access to the Atlas, there’s plenty of other havoc they could wreak without messing with the Atlantide.

After all, the Atlantide really isn’t much of a ship, relatively speaking. It was what he flew back on Earth before he left on the Kerberos mission; the ship that he lent to Keith while he was gone. It was repossessed when Keith left the Garrison, but after returning to Earth, Sam had bought it and refurbished it for him. It still isn’t the most technologically advanced, but, thanks to Sam’s upgrades, it’s now capable of sustained flight in deep space. And, Shiro realizes, it’s also equipped with two-factor authentication—a physical key and a biometric key, each locked only to Shiro and Keith.

Biometric scanners could be tricked, but in terms of people with the physical key...

Shiro’s heart pounds. “Can you bring up the access logs for the Atlas hangar?”

“On it,” Veronica says.

Iverson grunts. “If they managed to steal an access card, I guess that would explain why it was just the geofence alarm for the Atlantide that went off and not any of the intruder alerts. You think we’ll see a card used that shouldn’t have been?”

“Something like that,” Shiro says, and at Iverson’s suspicious scowl, he adds, “If I’m right, you’re not going to like it.”

“Oh!” Allura says, grinning wildly, and Iverson’s expression gets even more sour.

“I’ve got the logs,” Veronica says, cutting off whatever Iverson would have said. “Okay, only one person accessed the hangar in the past hour, looking up their ID number and… uh, it was… Keith?”

Iverson actually groans.

“I have the Atlantide on radar,” Sam says. “It’s heading straight toward the Balmera.”

“And they’ve sent a message through,” Veronica says, switching the main display from the camera feed to the text. “ _Catch me if you can. K._ ”

Iverson stands. “I’m too old for this. Call me when it’s over.”

Veronica looks between Iverson and Shiro.

Sam laughs, breaking the tension in the room. “Has anyone told you what happened the day Shiro and Keith first met?”

“Did he steal your ship?” Veronica says.

“He stole my car, but close enough.” There’s a specific hangar of the Castleship that, like the Lions’ docking bays, is keyed to Keith’s ship and would have opened for him automatically without setting off any alarms. Shiro finds the security feed. Sure enough, Keith’s fighter is there, lights still on in invitation. He smirks. “I’ll handle the retrieval personally.”

He ignores Iverson’s mumbled _of course you will_ and addresses Allura. “I’ll be back soon. You’ll be all right?”

“Take your time,” Allura says. “And Shiro?”

“Hm?”

She steps closer and squeezes his arm, her smile warm. “If anyone deserves a happily ever after, it’s you.”

* * *

The trip down to the Balmera is quick normally, but even quicker on Keith’s ship. Shiro can feel himself grinning wildly as he dives into a too-fast landing, meters away from the Atlantide.

Keith is watching him from next to two compact hoverbikes. Shiro can’t see his expression, but the relaxed slouch of Keith’s body makes him smile. He hurries through the landing sequence and off the ship.

“Is it really a chase if you wait for me?” he calls out.

“Decided hide and seek wouldn’t be as fun.” Keith raises his arm and tosses something at him. Shiro catches it against his chest. A helmet. “Ready for part two?”

Shiro’s close enough to see that he’s grinning, too, cheeks flushed in the chill of the air.

“I didn’t even know there was going to be a part one.” Shiro tried to sound casual, but instead he sounds half a breath away from swooning.

From the way Keith’s smile slides into a smirk, he definitely noticed.

“Think you can keep up?” Keith says, slinging a leg over the bike closest to him. His pants are very tight.

Shiro slams on the helmet. “Lead the way.”

Keith takes them through the desolate lands with an ease that makes Shiro suspect he’s spent more than a bit of time planning this out. The thrilled swoop Shiro feels in his stomach has nothing to do with the hill they’ve just crested.

It’s a ride that Shiro almost doesn’t want to end—but, inevitably, it does. Keith gives the signal to slow down, and they come to a stop by a cliffside. 

Shiro tucks the helmet under his arm as he goes over to stand beside Keith. “Almost looks like home.”

“I tried to pick a good spot.” Keith hesitates, looking over the landscape. “Can’t do much about the yellow sky.”

“It’s perfect,” Shiro says, and is rewarded with one of Keith’s smiles.

“C’mon,” Keith says, walking closer to the cliff’s edge. He pulls his bag from his back. “I have a present for you.”

“You showing up was already enough of a gift,” Shiro says, helping him lay out the blanket he’s pulled out of his bag. They sit down, close enough their sides are almost touching. “Now you’re just spoiling me. And it’s not even my birthday!”

Keith pauses in rifling through his bag and gives Shiro a look so disbelieving that Shiro’s mind blanks and he has to work to remember what he just said.

“Wait,” Shiro says. “Is it my birthday?”

Keith lowers his bag, looks between it and Shiro. “I thought… I thought you liked birthdays. That’s why I thought it might be fun to…”

“No no, you’re right,” Shiro says quickly. “I love celebrating my birthday, I just didn’t realize! It’s been so busy, and you know how hard it is to keep time out here in the first place. Hey.” He puts his hand on Keith’s shoulder. “It means so much to me that you came all this way just to celebrate with me.”

Keith’s smile blossoms again. “Of course. I… I really missed you.”

“I missed you too.” Shiro wants to bring his hand up to Keith’s face and feel his smile. Instead, he drops his hand to tap on Keith’s, resting atop his bag. “You said you had a present for me?”

“It’s nothing big, but… I hope you like it.” Keith carefully pulls a familiar-looking navy blue box from his bag and hands it to Shiro.

Shiro takes it reverently, running his fingers over the lid, fingers tracing over the golden letters that he’s known since he was a child. _Hoshino Bakery Café_. “You visited my parents?”

Keith looks flustered. “I—yeah, sorry, I probably should have asked you before I went, but I didn’t think of it until after I got back to Earth. I remembered you talking about them and I thought it would be nice to have something from them, so—”

“Keith,” Shiro says before Keith can get himself completely worked up. “I’m glad you did. How were they?”

“Good,” Keith says. “Happy. They miss you, but I told them you’d be back as soon as you could. They’ve got news clippings of you all over the wall.”

Shiro groans, but his heart isn’t in it. He can still feel himself smiling. “Of course. Did you see my baby pictures up there too?”

Keith looks off somewhere to the side. “Well...”

Shiro’s smile slips. “You’re joking.”

“Yeah, I am,” Keith says, laughter written on his face even though he doesn’t voice it. “Well, sort of. I mean, I saw them, but they weren’t on the wall.”

Shiro hides his face in his palm. “I can’t believe they’re going around showing my baby pictures to everyone.”

“You were a cute baby,” Keith says, as if that makes it any better. “And... I think they only showed it to me because they recognized me. I didn’t really expect them to know who I was, but they, uh... they said you told them all about me,” he finishes, a bit shyly.

“Of course,” Shiro says warmly. “I was hoping we’d be able to go together some time, back before everything went sideways. But maybe when I’m back...” Shiro trails off, realizing he doesn’t know what Keith’s plans are.

Keith puts his hand on top of Shiro’s. “I’ll be there.”

Shiro smiles and opens the box. Inside are two strawberry chiffon cupcakes, covered with a whipped light pink frosting, delicately sliced strawberries, and a garish oversized candle shaped like the number seven.

“Your dad’s idea,” Keith says. “And then your mom said you liked rounding up.”

Shiro snorts. “I guess she’s not wrong.”

“Let me—” Keith freezes halfway to his bag, and then brings his hand to his face. “I forgot the lighter for the candle.”

“Oh, that’s okay—”

“But your wish,” Keith says. He looks frustrated. “Your mom made me promise to make sure you got your birthday wish.”

“Hey.” Shiro nudges Keith’s shoulder with his own. “Seriously, don’t worry about it. You’ve already granted more than one wish today.” He pokes at the candle. “And honestly, if you lit this, we might end up with more wax than cupcake.”

One corner of Keith’s mouth lifts. “It is a big candle.”

“Now that that’s settled,” Shiro says, plucking off the seven. He holds the cupcake out to Keith, but Keith waves it off and picks the second one out of the box instead.

“Happy birthday, Shiro,” Keith says, raising the cupcake like a toast. “I hope you get everything you wish for and more.”

“I already have,” Shiro says, tapping their cupcakes together.

Keith looks away, and this time Shiro thinks—hopes—his flush isn’t from the cold. Shiro looks away too and distracts himself with taking a bite of his cupcake. 

It tastes so much like home that he wants to cry.

“Shiro? Are you okay?”

Shiro hurriedly takes another bite, and then turns and smiles at Keith. “Yeah. How is it? Do you like it?”

“It’s good,” Keith says, but his attention is clearly still on studying Shiro’s face. Shiro smiles wider, which only makes Keith frown more.

Shiro looks down at his cupcake. “I’m okay, really. Just... miss home. Not in a bad way,” he adds, before Keith can regret his gift.

Keith leans against him. It feels like a hug. “I saw there was a sports field near your parents’ bakery. Think we could just land the Atlas there?”

Shiro snorts and takes another bite of his cupcake. “I wish.” 

“Think about it,” Keith says. “It’d save us a plane ride. Oh,” he says, looking up at Shiro’s face. Shiro blinks back. “You have some frosting right—”

[](https://twitter.com/existence_proof/status/1367156586364301312?s=19)

Then Keith leans in and licks him, right on the tip of his nose, and then leans back like that didn’t just happen.

Shiro freezes, heart beating double time as he watches Keith return his attention to his own cupcake. “Um?”

Keith looks at him in question, then blinks and freezes too. He turns red. “Um.”

Shiro desperately wants to know what just happened, but he also doesn’t want Keith to melt into the ground. “Thank you,” he croaks out.

“N-no problem,” Keith says, very pointedly not looking at him.

Shiro tries to think of how to move the conversation past this, but his mind replays the quick flick of Keith’s tongue against his skin in a distressingly endless loop.

In the end, it’s Keith who saves them both.

“Shiro, look!” he says. “Shooting stars.”

Shiro tears his eyes away from his lap to the sky, where bursts of light are streaking.

Next to him, Keith is still pink, but looks less like he’s wishing for the ground to swallow him whole. “Looks like you can make your birthday wish after all.”

Shiro takes mental stock of his situation. Keith’s here, they and their loved ones are safe and healthy, the universe isn’t in any immediate need of saving, they’ll be back home in a matter of quintants—there really isn’t anything he can think of to wish for.

Unless.

Shiro puts down his cupcake and closes his eyes. “I wish—”

“Ah, wait!” Keith grabs Shiro’s hand. “If you say it, then it won’t come true. That’s how it works, right?”

“Sometimes,” Shiro says, “it’s worth taking a risk.” He closes his eyes again. “I wish I had the courage to tell Keith how much he means to me.”

There’s a quiet gasp from beside him, and Keith’s hand loosens on his for a brief moment before tightening again.

“I wish I could tell him how sorry I am that I’ve hurt him. I wish I could tell him how I’d never leave him again, if I could. I wish I could tell him that…” Shiro opens his eyes and locks gazes with Keith, whose eyes are brimming with unshed tears. “I wish I could tell him that I want to stay with him forever, if he’d let me.”

“He would,” Keith says. “I would.” He leans in closer. “Shiro, I—I love you.”

“I love you.” Shiro cups Keith’s cheek with his hand, thumb wiping away the first tears that leak through. There’s so much else he could say right now—thank Keith, maybe, for being here for him through it all. For working so hard to give him a taste of home when he’s felt so unmoored for so long. For never giving up on him.

Instead, he leans in and kisses him softly. When he draws back, Keith’s eyes are shining.

“Stay with me,” Keith says softly.

“Always,” Shiro says, and kisses him again.

-

_Wherever you are, I'll always make you smile  
Wherever you are, I'm always by your side  
Whatever you say, 君を思う気持ち  
I promise you forever right now  
  
Wherever you are, I'll never make you cry  
Wherever you are, I'll never say goodbye  
Whatever you say, 君を思う気持ち  
I promise you **forever right now**_

— wherever you are (ONE OK ROCK) 

**Author's Note:**

>   * The Atlantides (the name of Shiro's ship) are the seven daughters of Atlas, and exist in the night sky as a cluster of seven stars called the Pleiades — thank you to Infie for coming up with the name!!
> 

> 
> * * *
> 
> Thank you so much for reading!
> 
> I love, appreciate, and cry over each and every comment, even if it takes me a little while to respond. :)
> 
> Outside of AO3, you can catch me on [twitter](https://twitter.com/ailurea) or drop a message [in my askbox](https://curiouscat.qa/ailurea)!


End file.
